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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28405137">the difference between</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyhalefire/pseuds/bloodyhalefire'>bloodyhalefire</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Dark Will Graham, Established Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Future Fic, Introspection, M/M, Murder Husbands, POV Outsider, Past Molly Graham/Will Graham, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Post-Fall (Hannibal), Relationship Study, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:41:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,347</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28405137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyhalefire/pseuds/bloodyhalefire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“The moment Will left my hospital room that day I knew I would never see him again,” Molly explains, and finally admitting it aloud only serves to amplify the feelings she’s felt burdened with for so long—a mix of melancholy, heartbreak, acceptance, and, somehow, a new feeling she can only describe as a bittersweet sort of happiness. “I knew he would either die with that man or run away with him.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Molly Graham &amp; Will Graham, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>94</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the difference between</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>idk how i feel about this, but when i noticed the severe lack of discussion about molly post-finale i had to remedy it</p><p>also im so bad at writing beginnings but pls give it a chance</p><p>enjoy !!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s been 76 hours since Will and Hannibal disappeared when Jack finally decides to come to her house, and he announces his presence with a knock so quiet that she would have missed it if she hadn’t been walking past the door.</p><p>It becomes obvious to Molly the moment she sees him that Jack was hoping she wouldn’t answer the door at all, what with his poor attempt at knocking coupled with the fact that he’s already off her porch; he wasted no time retreating. Molly flicks her gaze down to Jack’s feet for a second before raising an eyebrow at him, and his facial expression morphs into one akin to that of a guilty child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The bone-tired look in his eyes tells a different story; Jack Crawford, despite his cowardice in approaching her, is plagued by confusion and an entirely different kind of guilt.</p><p>They stare at each other for a moment in silence before Molly sighs. The sooner they get this conversation started the sooner it will end. </p><p>“You’re about three days late, Mr. Crawford,” she offers; though it’s not said unkindly he still flinches minutely at the statement. </p><p>Molly clears her throat pointedly in the wake of Jack’s continued silence. At the sound, he starts fidgeting intensely and stuttering on a poorly executed lie about what happened, and Molly watches him struggle for a moment in recompense before finally deciding to put him out of his misery.</p><p>“Your lack of punctuality aside,” she says, and Jack shuts his mouth so fast she can hear the click of his teeth, “I already know.”</p><p>Jack sputters. “Excuse me?”</p><p>Molly sighs as she pushes herself off of the threshold of the front door. She closes it behind her and leans on it. “The moment Will left my hospital room that day I knew I would never see him again,” she explains, and finally admitting it aloud only serves to amplify the feelings she’s felt burdened with for so long—a mix of melancholy, heartbreak, acceptance, and, somehow, a new feeling she can only describe as a bittersweet sort of happiness. “I knew he would either die with that man or run away with him.”</p><p>There are a myriad of things that Jack seems to want to say to this, but instead he stares at her for a moment, confused, before finally settling on, “I don’t understand.”</p><p>“It’s incredible how long Will was able to fight who he was,” she muses, and the confused look on Jack’s face only deepens at what must seem to him like a subject change. “Despite how deep he tried to bury it, I always knew that there was a bit of darkness in him. I was never able to get a true read on it, and I was unaware of how deep it ran, but I always knew it was lurking somewhere in the water, just waiting for someone or something to rock the boat. And then you called him about the case.”</p><p>There’s no inflection in her tone, no blame, simply a statement of fact. Jack winces anyway. “It’s my fault,” he confesses brokenly, looking down at his hands. “He had finally found a family to call his own and I ruined it. I never should have contacted him. I’m sorry.”</p><p>Molly stares at him for a moment. “You don’t need to apologize,” she finally says with a sigh. “It was hard for me to accept at first, don’t get me wrong, but I think I always knew that something like this would happen. All you did was serve as a catalyst for the inevitable.”</p><p>This, apparently, causes Jack to snap; the man in front of her shifts from devastated to angry before she even has the opportunity to blink. “If you thought that, why the hell didn’t you say anything! It’s possible that all of this could have been prevented!” he shouts at her; Molly doesn’t so much as blink at the outburst. “Hannibal would still be behind bars and Will would still be home with you and your son. How can you be so damn <em> calm </em> about this?”</p><p>“You know, I actually encouraged Will to return to the FBI and help you,” she admits, and Jack clenches his jaw at the fact that she is yet again skirting around his question. “He told me that if he helped you, he would be different when he came back. Do you know what I said to that? I said that <em> I </em> wouldn’t be.”</p><p>“Why would you say that if you thought he wouldn’t come back?” Jack demands incredulously, voice still raised.</p><p>“Whether it be because he hadn’t realized he wouldn’t or if he was just in denial, I know that Will still thought he would be coming home to me,” she explains, calm in the face of his confusion and outrage. “Will was scared, and I wanted to reassure him.” </p><p>This statement seems to make Jack even more frustrated, but instead of yelling he closes his eyes and takes a long, deep breath. “Why are you telling me all of this?” he whispers brokenly.</p><p>Molly hums. “I’m not saying any of it with the intent of punishing you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she clarifies, and the look on his face makes it clear that she hit the nail on the head. “All I want is for you to understand.” </p><p>“Understand what?” </p><p>“That I'm not angry at Will and that I don’t blame him for any of this. I honestly feel the same way about Hannibal,” she responds. “Don’t get me wrong, I still hate him and think he’s completely and utterly despicable, but I’m not <em> angry </em> at him. Besides, nobody is to blame for this. Not even the two of us, though it took me a while to realize that.”</p><p>He’s looking at her in disbelief, and she can understand why; Molly has had time to come to terms with this while Jack hasn’t. But there’s even more to it than that. </p><p>That is, despite the fact that it’s a relatively tragic yet cliché idea—the difference between ‘love’ and ‘in love’ being the same difference between ‘for a while’ and ‘forever’—only she knows that it’s <em> within </em> this idea that the reality of the situation they’re all in can be found. Molly knows that Will has never truly been hers; even though she will never be able to understand it, her husband has always been Hannibal’s.</p><p>But even still.</p><p>“Will is a good man, and I will love him for the rest of my life. And while there is no doubt in my mind that the same is true for him, I also know that if he is alive,” Molly knows that both he and Hannibal are but refrains from saying so, “he isn’t thinking about us very much, and I’m not angry about that either.”</p><p>Jack opens his mouth to respond but she cuts him off before he has the opportunity. “Goodnight, Mr. Crawford,” Molly says quietly as she grants him a parting nod before turning to go back inside. She immediately locks the door and slumps back against it as if all the strings holding her up had been cut; she closes her and covers her mouth with a trembling hand, beyond relieved that the conversation is finally over. </p><p>Molly stays there for a moment, stock still, her unsteady breathing the only sound to be heard, before pushing herself off the door and heading to the kitchen to pour herself a well-deserved glass of wine. </p><p>On her way to the couch, glass in hand, Molly notices a framed photo of her, Wally, and Will on the counter. She stares at it for a moment, considering, before slowly reaching out to grab it and lay it face down. She finds herself looking at the back of the frame this time, an emotion she can’t put a name to flowing through her, before finally sitting down and taking a long sip of her wine.</p><p>Molly closes her eyes and breathes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you <i>so</i> much for reading!! i hope you all liked this, and if you did i have other hannigram fics that you can find <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyhalefire/pseuds/bloodyhalefire/works?fandom_id=801274">here</a> if you feel so inclined</p><p>consider buying me a <a href="https://ko-fi.com/bloodyhalefire">coffee</a> if you enjoyed, I'd appreciate it so much 🥰<br/><a href="https://mysticdevils.tumblr.com/post/640935074647474176/every-time-i-try-to-link-my-tumblr-in-the-end">my tumblr</a><br/></p></blockquote></div></div>
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